2003 season review

GT Drivers Champion : Christophe Bouchut is one of the most successful
and longest-serving drivers in the FIA GT Championship. He has taken
part in all but 13 of the rounds ever held, driving for Kremer Racing in
1997, Team Persson Motorsport in...

GT Drivers Champion : Christophe Bouchut is one of the most successful
and longest-serving drivers in the FIA GT Championship. He has taken
part in all but 13 of the rounds ever held, driving for Kremer Racing in
1997, Team Persson Motorsport in 1998, and Larbre Competition Chereau
since 2000. With three Championship wins, N-GT in 2000 and GT in 2001 and
2002, the 36-year old Frenchman has scored a total of 206 points over
the 5 seasons he has competed, with a total of 11 wins, 6 in N-GT and 5
in GT, including two wins in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa.

Winning GT Driver, Christophe Bouchut.

Photo by FIA.

"This was a great success," Bouchut said. "It is relatively rare to
have successive Championship wins, especially when the competition is
growing steadily stronger. It makes the victory even more important. We
were surprised to win in 2001, as we had planned to have a year in which
to learn about the category and the car. 2002 was more difficult, as we
were up against some extremely competitive cars, such as the Lister and
the Ferrari, which we could not beat on terms of pure speed."
Bouchut has seen a lot of changes during his time in the FIA GT
Championship. "To start with, it was a refuge for me, after leaving
single-seaters. I met a multitude of people there who have helped me
with my career, starting with Stephane Ratel. I've seen the ups and the
downs, although I was sheltered from the worst, driving for a
manufacturer in 1998. But since then, the Championship has really found
an excellent balance, and as far as I am concerned, the atmosphere there
is friendlier and more pleasant than in any other international
competition in which I have taken part. After winning in Estoril, the
Lister mechanics congratulated me -- and Jamie Campbell-Walter and I
shook hands, vowing to continue our battle in 2003. I don't think I
could find a better place to race anywhere."

What about his best memory of 2002 ? "Definitely the end of the last
race, in Estoril -- deliverance at last ! I did not really believe I
would win the Championship, not at any point, not even when I took the
lead after Spa. I would hate to go through that race again -- it was very
difficult and there were so many factors in play. I still can't quite
believe it ! "

Christophe has already signed to drive for Larbre again in 2003. " A lot
of things will change. I'll have another new team-mate -- nothing has
been signed yet -- and there should be a number of changes to the
Chrysler Viper, so that we can fight on equal terms to try and make it
three in a row !"

GT Teams Champion : Larbre Competition Chereau
The French-based team entered two Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars in the 2002
season, retaining the title it had won in 2001, this time with a narrow
margin of 4.5 points over Lister Storm Racing. Jack Leconte's drivers,
Christophe Bouchut, Sebastien Bourdais, Carl Rosenblad, David Terrien and
Vincent Vosse, made sure that the team scored points at every race, with
both cars regularly finishing in the top six. The team's finest moment
came during the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa, when the team claimed its
second consecutive win in the epic endurance race.

Winning N-GT Driver, St?phane Ortelli.

Photo by FIA.

N-GT Drivers Champion : Stephane Ortelli has also been a regular in the
FIA GT Championship since the beginning, taking his first podium was in
Helsinki, in 1997, driving a Roock Racing Porsche 911 GT1. He continued
to drive for Roock Racing, mainly in the GT2 category, from 1997 to 1999,
making a full return to the Championship in 2001, for Freisinger
Motorsport, in the N-GT category. With 7 wins this season, with a number
of talented co-drivers, the 32-year old from Monaco has had his best
season yet.

"This was one of the hardest challenges I have faced," Ortelli explained.
"The season was very tough, as we were 20 points behind after the first
two races. It took us a long time and a lot of hard work to catch up and
finally take the lead - and then we had to defend that lead ! This win is
very important, both to me and to the team. It has been very special,
working with Manfred Freisinger, and being able to give the team their
first class 24-hour victory, at Spa this year, and then the Team and
Drivers Championships later in the season."

"I have been involved in the FIA GT Championship since the beginning, so
this represents a nice continuity for me," Ortelli continued. "However,
this is the first time that I have been able to do a full season, as
there were no clashes with the Porsche Supercup. Perhaps it is
significant that I proceeded to win both titles ! I really enjoyed
competing in the N-GT category; there are some excellent drivers in my
class, and we had some very good races. It was also good to win so many
races with different co-drivers. It is generally much easier to have one
regular team-mate, so that you can build up a good relationship. This
year, I had to be a real leader, to compromise, to be confident, to make
my team-mates feel part of the team and to work together for our race."

So far, Stephane does not have any fixed plans for 2003. "Nothing is
clear yet, but I would like to stay in the Championship and fight to
retain my title ! We'll have to see !"

N-GT Teams Champion : Freisinger Motorsport
The German team, run by Manfred Freisinger, has competed regularly in the
FIA GT Championship since half-way through the 1998 season. Initially
running Porsche 911 GT2 cars, the team earned a place in the history
books after claiming the last overall victory with that car, at the
Lausitzring in 2000. In 2001, the team moved into the N-GT category with
two Porsche 996 GT3-R cars. This season, Stephane Ortelli and his
team-mates, Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas, Sascha Maassen and Emmanuel Collard,
as well as Bert Longin, Stephane Daoudi and Cyrille Sauvage in the second
car, scored a total of 103 points for the team - the highest N-GT team
score ever.